Flexible shafting.



R. ABELL.

FLEXIBLE SHAFTING. APPLICATION FILED D110. 21, 1906. RENEWED MAY 19, 1909. 970,675., Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

2 SKEETS-SEEET 1.

R. ABELL.

FLEXIBLE SHAFTING. APPLICATION FILED DEG. 21, 1905. RENEWED MAY 19, 1909.

970,675. Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

2 SHEETSBKBET 2.

UNITED sTAtrp r gENT OFFICE.

ROLLIN ABELL, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ,ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF'TO GUY W,

CURRIER, OF METHUEN, MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 20, 1910,

Application lile'd Ilecember 21, 1905, Serial No. 292,755. Renewed May 19, 1909. Serial No. 496,937. I

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, RoLLIN ABELL, citizen of the United States, residing at oston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachu setts, have invented'new and useful Imwhich is shown in the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents in side elevation a piece of the completed shafting, an inclosing' tubular case being indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 2 shows one unit of the shaftin in provements in Flexible Shafting, of which perspective in its form before, assembling. the following is a s ecification. Fig. 3 shows a blank stamping for forming This invention re ates to improvements in a unit. Figs. 4 and 5 show an intermediate flexible shafts for transmitting power. stage and the completed stage of a unit The objects of the invention are to proformed from said blank. Fig. 6 shows in duce. :t. shaft of durable material not likely side elevation, partly in section, a method ,of to br a or-become fragile by use and wear; assembling the units. Fig. 7 shows a modito reduce the cost of manufacture of flexible fication in side elevation. Fig. 8 showsv a shafts; and in general to produce a shaft blank stamping from which one of the units 15 having the other advantages incident to the of the mo ification may be formed. Figs: invention hereinafter described. These ob- 9 nd 10 show stages in the formation of jects are attained constructin the shaft Said unit from Said blank. F ig. 11 shows, of successive unit inks which t together partly in section, a completed'joint of the end to end. in a cup-like manner, each joint modified form. j I 20 between units bein made by projections Referring to the drawings: Fig. 3 shows formed integral wit one of such units ena lank stamping marked 1, having progaging loosely in holes in the other unit. jections 2 arran ed at one end suitable The units may be of various shapes and for the purposes hereinafter described; and, v-madein any suitable manner. holes 3 near the other end. This blank is i 25 The features of the invention are illusthn b into the r Sh0WI1 iI1 g- 'trated herein by showing a unit formed of t e Into h form shown in ig w c cold rolled or drawn sheet metal in-conical It 1S 11 11 Shell, having the 110188 3 dliv sha e. In thi e bodim nt of th i v ti metrically opposite each other near one end, a b ank is stamped from a sheet. of steel, and h i r j q 2 ing out t t so then is rolled or, drawn into conical shape other 611 l e diamet a y .oppo te and then th unit are a e bl d d t en each other. Fig. 2 is a view of the other end by bending the integral projecting fingers of of the samepiece. It will be observe that one unit into holes provided to receive them 1 the base f h pr jections 2 may be made loosely in the adjacent unit. As these finthan p as in the r was gers are integral with the mat rial of th lngs, these pro ections being slightly pointed.

ternal, deterioration as coiled springs are islfeasible if rivets or pins are used, for the body of the link, they cannot work loose, as rivets are apt to do; the expense of insertin and fastening rivets or plns is saved; an being made of tenuous,iuntempered material tolithey' are not liable to crystallization and in-.

in shape. By thus broadening the bases of these integral projections a considerably greater cross section of material can be employed in them than if the projections were merely ins or rivets, not integral with the body of the unit; and at the same time a bracing or strengthening effect is secured in the base of the projection itself. After completion to this stage it is well to smooth the corners of the units. by: tumbling 10o them in a barrel, or by some other suitable method. A process of, assembling these units into shafting is shown in Fig. 6. 4 represents a die plate having a hole 5, the

top of which is carefully made of the precise size needed for the operations hereinafter under continued use. By suitably shaping the connecting projections the transmittal strength can e made stron er, in propor- '45 tion to the weight and size 0% shafting, than reason that the presence of the hole in which the pin or rivet is set weakens the stock,

. while by the present invention, the fingers 50 being inte al with the stock, the full A strength 0 the stock is-saved. The stock can also be made of less thickness, because with integral projections the long setting re quired to hold a. pin firmly is dispensed with.

55 In this embodiment of the invention described, the remainder, being cut of larger diameter for clearance. 6 is the pressing chamber of the die, havinf'a depression 7 on its face, which may be 0 conical or a suitable curved shape, as indicated, and has a block 8 set in the center across the depression in such form to bear. upon the end of a unit 1 inserted therein, Without touching the, projections 2, as hereinafter described. A unit 1 is placed in the hole in the die block in the'position marked A, its fingers 2 having beenbent slightly inward so that another unitwill rest upon them in the positionB without falling between, as indicated in the drawing.- Such other .unit being so placed, the punch is moved-toward the die. block and encounters the fingers 2 of. the.

upper unit, engaging them with its recessed surface 7, which. presses .,'at such an angle that'it bends them inward. -Th1s continues untilthe central block tl encounters the end of the unit 1 and imposes thepressure of the punch directly upon the body, of'the said nnit. As movement of the punch continues the" further aewaaa d pressure causes the lower end of theunit B to slipbetweenthe,

fingers 2 of the supporting unit A,.which fingers then slip. into the holes 3 of the unit 3 and encounter the upper edges of those holes.- Continued pressure causes these upper edges to bear; down upon these fingers o unit A and tobendthem farther inward some play room; and thesmall end of eachunit fits loosely into the large end of similarunits,"with some lay room. This makes a #5 of play room allowed.

It will be observed that in the form illustrated the fingers 2 are approximately oblongcor rectangular incrosssection, while the holes3 are round. In operation the strain of transmitting thefjpower comes upon theseioblongparts of the fingers near the bases of the .fingers, and herein a pear several advantages of the invention: y having theserectangular instead of round a larger cross. section of material can be utilized by saving the corners; fingers can; be made at one operation of punching, theexpense of turning down 'the corners, to make the fingers' round, b'eingsavedgrwand by; making them oblong a la'rger ero'ss sectional area. is

ehtained. Bein oblong or rectangular, they do not fit the" ho es, but thisis no detriment, and in fact. is an advantage .because with this method of construction it, is not. essensort of universal oint, limited by the limit in operation thecorners of the fingers wear off a little, increasing the play room and" thus increasing thefiexibility of the shaft. An extra wear at any point serves to increase the flexibility there without materially weakening the transmitting power, 3 V

A casing 9 is provided to inclose the shaft, and this may be of any ordinary or suitable type. A lubricant maybe inolosed in the casing as is customary. If it is preferred-, the parts may be case-hardened after the shafting has been formed, thus preventing wear; or in some cases it may be better to defer case-hardening until the corners have been worn smooth. so

A modified form of the invention is shown in Figs. 7, 8, 9', 10 and 11. In this form two kinds of units are used :the unitl which is cylindrical and providedwith ine tegral projectin members 2 at each end, and the unit 1 w 'ich is spherical, provided.- with four-hole's-3 into which fingers 2 from 1 the units 1 on each side of it hook as 'in the form hereinbefore described. These I holes are set ninety degrees apart in the. medial plane, passing through the ball perpendicular to the axis of the shafting when the shafting is arranged in a straight li-ne.- 1 Fig. 8 shows a blank stamping from which the unit 1 may be made by. rollingfirst into the form shown in Fig. 9, and afterward into theform shown in Fig. 10;- In Fig. 11 the joint between the adjacent units is shown in section. The members 2 projecting from the unit 1 on one side of the unit 1 are set quartering with the fingers from vthe unit 1 on the opposite side. In order that these fingers may not interfere when all four are turned into the ball, it is well to-round their ends. If desired, the projecting mem- 1 bers instead of being left in rectangular form, as heretofore described, may be swaged round. By so doing the parts may be made with closer fit, play room not being necessary with. the double pivot form of joint shown in this modification. I

As various other modifications of -the shafting may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, tne patent is not to be limited to the specific forms here shown and described.

I claim: p I 1. A flexible shaft, comprising a series of units ofcircular .cross section, havingjoints between the units formed by members pro]- 1 1 ecting integrally fnomopposite sides ofonefi 1 unit and constltutlng axles journaled' by" hooking loosely into holes in the adjoining. r"

unit.

2. A flexible shaft, comprising a ser-ies o f-ii i similarunits, each having holes set in opipo-r. at"

site sidesnear one end, and being forrne the other end into ,members' projecting in tegrally fromthe body of the unit constitut ing axles journaled by engaging loosely in. 136

"i at one end andat the other end being ,[p1fovided with parts projecting integrally and constituting axles journaled loosely in .--,1 i i1 r holes in the adjacent unit.

Afflexible shaft, comprising a series of units composed ofductile metal formed into 4 1?: hollow conical shape; the smaller end being adapted to enter the larger end of an adjacent unit;there being lateral holes near one end and members at the other end integral {with the bod vof the unit, and fitting loosely into the simi ar holes, of the adjacent unit. 20 r ,5. Aflexible shaft, comprising a series of 1 "units, having joints between the units composed of members projecting integrally from op osite sides of one unit and constituting 'ax es journaled by being hooked loosely into holes 1n theadjoining unit, the sides of'each member converging from the base of the member toward its tip within the hole.

i 6'. A flexible shaft, comprising a series of units of circular cross section, having joints 3 between the units formed of members projecting integrally from opposite sides of one unit, having a proximately rectangular cross section, and constituting axles ournaled by being hooked loosel into round a j the rectangle bearing against thecircumfer- ..ence of the holes, in combination with a flexible circular casing for the series of units.

7. A flexible shaft, comprising a series of 40 shells, having joints between the shells holes in the a oining unit, t e corners of formed by members constituting axles projecting integrally from opposite sides of one shell through holes in the adjoining shell and journaled therein,said pro ecting members being arranged to make contact with the adjacent shell only within the holes throu h which they pass.

8. 5 flexible shaft, comprising a series of units, having joints between the units formed by members constituting axles projecting integrall from opposite sides of one unit and journa ed by hooking loosely into holes in the adjoining unit, the portions of said members which project through being arranged to permit movement of a unit in any angular direction from the axis of the adjoinin unit.

9. A exible shaft, comprising a series of sheet metal coniform units, there being integral projections from the ends of the units for linking the units together, and each unit havin a longitudinal seam on one side of the unit ormed by opposing edges of the sheet of metal of which the unit is formed.

10. A flexible shaft, comprisin a series of units com osed of ductile metal ormed into hollow tu ular shape with one end larger than the other; the smaller end being adapted to enter the larger end of an adjacent unit; there being lateral holes near one end, and membes at the other end integral with the body of the unit, and fitting loosely into the similar holes of the adjacent unit.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROLLIN ABELL.

Witnesses:

OLIVER P. SCHOONMAKER, ELLIO'IT B. Omen. 

